Halloween Night Horror
by piu-mosso
Summary: Summary: Halloween has always been celebrated among the Gilmore Girls and residents of Stars Hollow but this year, someone isn’t playing a game. It is a matter of survival.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own not a thing that you recognize, however I do own some new characters**.

Just a FYI, this is a remake of a last story I had started to write but I didn't really like how I had written it so I'm just starting fresh but with the same characters but more time to develop relationships before the big stuff starts to happen. So bear with me and enjoy the ride along the way.

_Summary: Halloween has always been celebrated among the Gilmore Girls and residents of Stars Hollow but this year, someone isn't playing a game. It is a matter of survival._

Chapter 1

"ABBY!" Rory stood at the base of the staircase and yelled up them. "We are gonna be late it you don't move your butt!"

"I'm coming, calm down." Abby's voice floated down to her twin as she walked down the upstairs hallway. She skipped down the stairs two at a time and smirked at her sister. "See, told you."

Rory rolled her eyes. "One of these days you're going to break something coming down those stairs the way you do and I'm just going to sit here and laugh and laugh."

Abby just tossed her long hair over her shoulder and walked into the kitchen, Rory in tow.

"Hey Mom!" the sisters said in unison, Abby getting juice from the fridge and Rory pouring herself some coffee.

Lorelai put her hand over her heart and sighed exaggeratedly. "I don't think I'll ever get sick of that twin double-talk. It's just so sweet." She pretended to wipe a tear underneath her eye. She walked to the counter and grabbed her daughters' napkins with Pop Tarts in them and handed them off to each of them.

"Thanks Mom." They said.

"God you kill me!" Lorelai teased. "Alright you loinfruit; to Luke's!" She announced, her arm raised in the air holding her purse.

Abby looked at her watch. "We don't have time for Luke's! If we don't leave now we're going to miss our bus."

All three of the Gilmore Girls looked at each other for a second then bolted for the door. As they walked out, Lorelai said, "That's it. We have to wake up earlier."

----------------------------

Rory listened to the teacher as she lectured them on each of the parts found in a cell. She meticulously took perfect notes while half listening to what was actually being said. Suddenly a poke to the middle of her back broke her concentration. Sighing in exasperation, she ignored it.

Five minutes later another poke came. She squirmed in her seat unconsciously. Hearing a snicker behind her caused her to sit on the edge of her seat to distance herself as much as possible.

But soon enough not only pokes came but a voice. "Maaaary." He whispered.

Rory closed her eyes and breathed through her nose to not snap at him in the middle of class. She looked at her watch.

Ten minutes.

She could handle that. Ten minutes was nothing. She just had to endure ten minutes until lunch. She straightened her paper and continued writing down information about the Endoplasmic Reticulum.

Poke.

Her eye twitched. "Mary, I know you can hear me."

That's it.

She leaned back in her chair and slightly turned her neck. "What. Do. You. Want?!"

Tristan Dugray smirked at her annoyed tone. "Did you miss me over the weekend?"

She raised an eyebrow disdainfully and turned to face him. "Oh yeah. In between all the time I spent with Dean, you know my boyfriend, I just sat by myself thinking how much I missed you and how I couldn't wait until today to see you." She turned back around and focused her attention again.

"Well at least you admit it."

She could hear the smirk in his voice and it took all the self-control she had not smack him across his arrogant face.

The rest of the period passed without any interruptions but as the bell rang Rory hurried to gather her books and ran out the door without a backwards glance. Suddenly a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her into a dark closet.

"Now Mary, why do you keep doing this to yourself?" Tristan had his hand held up against her mouth to stifle the scream that would have come out. "The more you fight it, the more your defenses are weakening." He removed his hand but pressed his hips into her, pinning her against the wall.

"Tristan. I have a boyfriend and I know you don't care but come on. Stop throwing yourself at me. Isn't it a little embarrassing by now?" she tried the pitying approach.

"Ha! Oh Mary, listen to you trying to get the upper hand. It's cute, you know that?" Tristan began to stroke her upper arm with the back of his fingers.

"No, you wanna know what's cute though?" she whispered in his ear, giving him a chill.

His voice was dangerously low and husky when he eventually did speak. "What?"

"Having bruised balls." She whispered into his ear as she raised her knee into his crotch and ignored his groan of pain while he lost balance. She shoved him away from her and tried to find the doorknob. As she found it she practically spilled out into the hallway, almost landing on Abby.

She looked at Rory with wide eyes. "Hey Ror. Whacha doing in there?" she chuckled.

Rory straightened her uniform and hitched up her bag. "Let's not talk about it." She linked her arm in her twin's and walked to the cafeteria.

Seeing Paris, the girls made their way through the babbling crowds of students and sat down. "Hey Paris."

"Hey." She didn't even look up from the book she had her nose in.

A distraction in the form of a text message presented itself to Abby. 'HEY HUN, MOVIE NIGHT TONIGHT. TELL RORY, INVITE WHO YOU WANT. –YOUR CREATOR'

"Hey we're having a movie night tonight."

Rory looked up from her mashed potatoes. "We are?"

"Yep, Mom just texted me." She waved her phone for emphasis. "Paris are you free tonight?" she asked.

"Are you kidding? It's a Monday night first of all. And secondly, I'm not going to go to Stars Hollow on a school night just to have to drive home at God knows when. I'm gonna pass."

A beat went by.

"Thanks though."

Both girls smiled. "Sure thing."

-------------------------

In the parking lot Tristan leaned against the hood of his car, his jacket in his backseat and he had unbuttoned his top two shirt buttons and loosened his tie. His casual stance and appearance attracted Summer, unfortunately.

"Hey baby. How've you been?" she purred as she leaned into him.

Tristan grimaced. "Summer, you broke up with me! I don't want anything to do with you or your STD-ridden body ever again." He shoved her off him.

She landed ungracefully and threw her nastiest death glare at him. He didn't even bat an eyelash at her. "Get out of here Summer. Go try to seduce some of the freshman boys. They're the only ones you haven't had a piece of, right?" he smirked at her pissed face. But she stalked off and revealed a blonde student standing behind her.

"Dude. You're my hero." Joey Dugray praised his older brother. He hopped up on the hood of the car. "That girl needs to go crawl in a hole." Tristan raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Well, don't get me wrong," he sputtered. "She's hot but seriously I think every guy in my grade has done her as well as the upperclassmen."

Tristan laughed at Joey. "Chill, I know what you meant. I hope she finally gets that I don't want her."

"Anymore." Joey grumbled.

Tristan grinned and grabbed his brother's head in a headlock. "What was that?"

"Kidding! You only have the hots for one girl now. And it's only a tad obvious." Tristan let Joey go.

"It is?" he grew a little concerned.

Joey gave him a look. "Tristan, you only bother her in every class you have with her and you force her into closets with you?" Tristan shifted uncomfortably. Joey noticed and laughed at him. "Yeah, people talk."

"Yeah well," Tristan scratched the back of his head to have something to do with his hands. "I'm only messing with her. There is totally a difference. Come on. I don't mean…" he trailed off.

Joey looked at him sympathetically.

"Shit." Tristan concluded.

--------------------------------------

**Hello readers!! Either you've just found my story or you're coming back cuz you liked the first version. I really wanted to rewrite what I had written before because I couldn't continue with the way I had started. My writing style has changed, I think. Also, I reworked how I'm gonna write the story and I can expand a lot more that I would have been able to before. Anyway, please tell me what you think!! REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the places or people you recognize.**

**Also, I don't know how replacing chapters work so if you haven't read the previous chapter, I replaced it so I suggest strongly that you go read it, because you'll be kinda lost.**

Chapter 2

Tristan and Joey were still talking when the Twins came out of the side door to the parking lot. As they passed the boys, Abby smiled at Tristan. "Hey Tristan."

He nodded at her. "How's it going Abby?"

Rory stood by her car, dumbstruck. "Abby!" she called to her. Abby jumped a little and said her goodbyes. As she walked over to Rory, she kept her eyes on her feet.

"Heya," She quickly got in the car. Rory, still shocked, stood still and her gaze unfortunately was still in the direction of Tristan and Joey. Too bad for her, they realized it too. Tristan smirked and stood up and just stared back at her. Joey was more considerate. He waved at her vigorously to get her attention.

Finally she snapped out of it and threw Tristan a dirty look and got into the driver's seat.

Joey clapped Tristan on the back. "Good one buddy." He slid off the hood and got into the passenger's side.

Tristan grimaced and got into the car. As he was starting the engine he heard someone speed out of the parking lot. "Lemme guess." He glanced at Joey who was shaking his head back and forth. "Shut up." Tristan grabbed his head and ruffled his hair.

Laughing at his brother's cry of protest, he backed up and sped out of the parking lot.

Rory was giving Abby an earful back in her blue car that Dean built for her. "What the hell were you thinking, flirting with that nasty pond scum sample?"

Abby whipped her head up. "Hey! I am trying to help you here!"

"How?" she snapped.

Abby was a little hurt by the nasty way Rory was talking to her. "Well, let's see. If I'm busy distracting Tristan, he won't be there to bother you?" she looked at her sister expectantly. "Ever think of that?" her green eyes hardened with annoyance.

Rory was quiet the rest of the journey to Stars Hollow. Once home, Abby didn't even wait until the car was completely stopped to get out of it and slam the door shut and bolt inside, slamming that door as well.

Once Rory got inside she found Lorelai standing in the kitchen looking dumbstruck. "Well perhaps you can tell me what happened today?"

Rory sighed. "It's my fault."

"Ahhh." Lorelai sat down at the little table. "Come, come. Tell Mama." She patted a spot at the table.

"Well, I kind of overreacted to something Abby did." She fell into the chair. "And turns out she was just trying to help me and make my life a little easier." She threw her head down on her folded arms on the table. "God I feel so stupid."

"Honey don't bruise your face." She flinched as she heard the impact.

"What does it matter? The more ugly I am, the more Tristan can like Abby! This could work." She repeatedly hit her face off her arms until Lorelai grabbed her shoulders and held her in place.

"Did you just mention Spawn of Satan?" she asked.

Rory nodded depressingly. "Abby was talking to him today by his car to distract him from me so he would leave me alone."

"Wow." Lorelai smiled at her daughter's initiative to help her sister. "Right, well I think you should go see Abigail, don't you?"

Rory pouted. "Nuh uh. Don't give me the Bambi eyes. I invented those. Go on. Make nice nice with your sister." Lorelai gave Rory a shove in the direction of the living room.

Rory ascended the stairs, dread filling her with every step. She finally reached Abby's room. She took a deep breath and knocked gently.

"Go away."

"Oh good. This is promising." Rory whispered to herself as she let herself inside.

Abby was sitting at her desk furiously typing away on a word document. Rory should have known. Whenever pissed off, Abby always threw herself into her schoolwork.

"Did you want to say anything else?" sneered Abby.

"Abs, can you stop typing for a second? Please?" Abby stopped and spun around immediately and looked at Rory expectantly.

"Well?"

"Umm, Abby I wanted to apologize." Rory sat down on the bed. "I completely overreacted. I am so sorry that I didn't even really consider what you could have been doing. I understand if you are still gonna be pissed for awhile but know that I'm sorry."

Rory nodded and started to leave. But she never made it. Abby leapt from the chair and tackled Rory. She threw her arms around her and hugged her tight. "Ror, I could never stay mad at you. You're my sister, my twin! We share everything! Come on now, but next time can we please leave the dramatics in the theater department or in english…when we have to randomly act out parts of things?"

Rory laughed and hugged her back. "Of course." She sat up on the bed. "Now, anything new or exciting happen to you today?"

---------------------------------

Lorelai, Rory, and Abby were all sitting at a table at Luke's when a tall dark shadow showed up. "Hey, sorry I'm late. My sister needed help with her english homework." Dean apologized to the table of women.

"That's okay. Gimme kiss and I forgive you." Rory overpuckered her lips for him. Luckily, he recognized her craziness and was trying to keep from laughing. "Kidding." Rory laughed as well.

Abby was still laughing once Dean had sat. "Oh man, Rory. That was one of the ugliest faces I've ever seen."

Rory shrugged. "Yeah well, if you ever try to do it, that's what you'll look like too. HA!"

"Well at least now I know not to do it. Thanks for screening it for me." She smirked at her sister.

Dean and Lorelai were just sitting quietly until they finished going back and forth. Once it was safe, Dean leaned over and quickly kissed Rory. As he pulled away, he failed to see that he had another pair of eyes on him.

Luke interrupted them with their meals. "Dead cows all around." He placed the hamburgers down on the table. "Oh Dean, what do you want?"

"I'll have a cheeseburger please and a coke." Luke nodded and started to turn away but was delayed as Lorelai pinched his butt. "Geez! Lorelai, come on. In public no less."

Lorelai just smiled at him. "I'll do more later, promise." She giggled.

"Dirty!" both girls chimed in.

Lorelai grinned as she shrugged for her actions. Dean just laughed at the antics he saw day in and day out.

------------------------------

Tristan was in the weight room at his house running on the treadmill when his brother came in holding a phone. "Hey Tristan! You got a phone call!"

Joey didn't realize that Tristan had in headphones so yelling wasn't really helping. Joey walked over and smacked him in the arm. Luckily Tristan had a good rhythm going so he didn't trip. He pulled out the headphones and paused his iPod. "What?"

Joey held out the phone. "Phone for you."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Take a message, I'm busy."

Joey pushed the phone into him, insisting. "It's Paris. She will not be denied." Tristan growled and slowed down. He grabbed the phone.

"What is so dire that it warranted a phone call Paris?" he wiped sweat off his forehead with a towel.

"Quit your wining. I heard you panting, sorry I interrupted your solo excursions."

Tristan sputtered. "Paris! I was not jerking off! I was running on the treadmill."

Silence on the other end. "Oh. Well I just wanted to tell you that my cousin Madison is coming to live with me in Hartford indefinitely."

"Have I met her before?" Tristan wracked his brain.

"No, she lives in Florida. Or she used to live in Florida. She's moving in tonight actually so she'll be enrolling in Chilton tomorrow."

"Okay. So what does this have to do with me? Were you just calling to make sure I know?" he was confused.

"No. I'm calling to make sure you don't hit on her. Please be the nice guy I know you are when you want to be. Just watch out for her when I'm not around."

"Well, what does she look like?" Tristan caved in, a little intrigued about this new girl.

"She pretty much looks like a younger version of me. But everyone thinks she's a prettier version."

Tristan could hear a little scorn in her voice. "Come on Paris, who could-"

"Save it."

Tristan grinned. "Okay, so tomorrow I will be on the lookout for a hot Paris lookalike. This'll be tough."

"Ugh. You make me sick Tristan."

He laughed. "You love it." He hung up, tossed the phone onto a chair, and got back on the treadmill.

As he continually ran his mind ran away with him. He just couldn't get her out of his head. Everything he did to her really was like a kindergarten crush. Back then, you tugged the pigtails and chased the girl you liked. If he had to describe himself in class today, ever poke would be a tug on the hair.

He increased his pace as he thought deeper. He didn't know what it was, but when Abby came to talk to him today by his car, he didn't get the same whooshy feeling in his stomach that he did whenever Rory talked to him, even if it was just to bicker. Maybe if Rory won't give him the time of day, perhaps he could go after Abby to get Rory's attention.

Tristan smirked as he continued to increase the speed on the treadmill.

----------------------------

Lorelai and Luke were sitting on the couch all cuddled up while the kids were left with the floor and pillows to watch the movie. Dean was leaning his back against the couch with the sisters on either side of him. Rory was in his arms, leaning on his shoulder but rapidly slipping down as she felt more and more drowsy. Abby was sitting on his other side, feeling a bit left out.

She looked up on the couch where Luke was completely asleep and was beginning to snore lightly. Her mother was cradled in between his arms and was passed out on his torso, the rest of her stretched out on the couch.

Abby sighed deeply as she watched Rory slide further and further down Dean's chest until she was using his lap as a pillow. Dean gave no notice except that he started lightly stroking her hair, his eyes still on the movie.

She didn't understand how so many people had fallen asleep during their movie night. Usually the guests were the ones to pass out. Luke always fell asleep early so that wasn't a surprise but Lorelai and Rory were. Deciding to be responsible, Abby got up and walked around the couch to wake her mother gently.

"Mom," she whispered as she shook her shoulder. Lorelai groaned. "Mom." She tried a little more vigorously.

Lorelai swatted her hand. "Go 'way." Abby tried again.

"Mom, go to bed."

"I am in bed. You woke me up. You're mean." Abby chuckled and started to support her.

"Don't you think Luke would be more comfortable in a bed?"

Lorelai stood up and swayed to the side. "True." She woke up Luke. "Hun, we're gonna go upstairs, come on." Luke mumbled something incoherent but they stumbled upstairs leaving the teenagers alone in the living room.

Just as Abby got settled down on the couch the credits began to roll. "Aw, come on!"

Dean looked back at her and laughed. "Do you want me to tell you how it ended?"

Abby grumbled and punched a pillow into a more comfortable position. "No, I'll watch it later. Thanks though."

"No problem." Dean looked down at his lap. "So do you think I should Rory to bed?"

Abby looked down at her sleeping sister, "yeah, she seems pretty out of it."

Dean nodded and gathered her body to his with his arm under her legs and around her back. As he stood, he lifted her with him. He carried her out of the living room while Abby watched him leave.

She got up from the couch to take out the movie and then fell back onto the couch. Just as she was dozing off she felt a blanket being placed over her. Too tired now to even comprehend who would still be able to do this, she snuggled further into the pillow and pulled the blanket closer to her body.

Abby woke up a few hours later because her bladder was ready to explode. She swung her body over the edge of the couch and hurried to the bathroom. On her way back she was about to get back on the couch but tripped over something solid on the floor. A very solid something that moved when she landed on it. And groaned.

Abby gasped as she realized she was laying on Dean, and that his arms had found themselves around her. "Dean, why are you on the floor?"

"Well you took where I was gonna sleep." He replied very sleepily. He unconsciously started nuzzling against her and she didn't stop it. "This floor is hard." He complained with a pout.

Abby looked down at his adorable sleepy face. She rolled off him and tugged on his arm. "Where we goin'?" he whispered.

She heaved his body onto the couch and arranged his limbs so nothing was hanging off the couch. She took the blanket from her shoulders and draped it across his long frame; thankfully it was a HUGE blanket. She was about to leave when Dean grabbed her arm.

"Don't leave me."

Abby looked back at him and he was propping himself up on one arm, holding her elbow in the other. His face looked like that of a lost little boy; so vulnerable and innocent. Even though she knew it was wrong she turned her body to face him.

"Dean, where am I going to sleep? The floor isn't that appealing."

He was ready with an answer. He lay against the back of the couch and opened his arms, gesturing to the spot on the couch in front of him. "I promise I won't push you off." He smiled sleepily.

Abby was completely defenseless against his puppy dog eyes. She took a deep breath and got in front of Dean and almost immediately his arms wrapped around her and pulled her flush against his body. She had little choice but to rest her head on his chest and fall asleep to his rhythmic breathing.

------------------------------------------

**See, I told you I had more ideas for this! Now I'll be updating more frequently. I've already started the next one so it shouldn't be too long till it's up for you to enjoy and review! Please tell me what you thought!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. *tear* I only have my imagination.**

Chapter 3

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

Abby woke up with a jolt at the sound of Lorelai's alarm clock from upstairs. She felt hot breath on her face and she looked up to find Dean's slumbering features right above her. She could feel his arms wound completely around her, securing her body to his while their legs were entwined.

She tried to wriggle out of his grasp to avoid being caught in such an inappropriate position with a guy who wasn't only not her boyfriend, but her sisters'…this could end badly.

Unfortunately, Dean didn't like the idea of her leaving because he tightened his arms around her and burrowed his face into her neck. Abby was very tempted to just stay but she couldn't risk getting caught. With one last glance at Dean's adorable sleeping face, she rolled off the couch and placed his arms around himself.

Squatting on the floor for a moment to make sure he didn't wake up, Abby watched him breathe in and out. In and out. Once she was convinced he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon she quietly crept up the stairs as quickly as she could. She just shut the door as she heard her mother's door open and Abby heard Lorelai stumble to the bathroom grumbling to herself.

Abby gave her bed one look before mussing up the sheets like she had just emerged from them. Forcing away the weird feelings she was getting, she began getting ready to take a shower.

Lorelai emerged from upstairs to see Dean curled up on the couch gripping a pillow tightly. She smiled at this display as she passed the couch to go to the kitchen to make some of the earth's best substances.

As she was watching it brew Rory came out of her room to make herself breakfast. "Hey babe, why don't you go wake up Sleeping Beauty out there." Lorelai suggested.

Rory laughed on her way to the couch. When she saw Dean sprawled out over the couch she smiled at how cute he looked. He was tightly grasping a pillow and had nestled his face into it. It looked as though he thought it was a real person he was cuddled up with.

She crouched next to the couch and stroked his face. He immediately leaned into her soft touch and let out a sigh. Dean grumbled something incoherent that sounded strangely like, 'Abby'. Rory furrowed her brow but disregarded it. "Dean, hey, you have to get up now."

He groaned a little louder and opened one eye. "Hey there." He smiled lazily at his girlfriend.

Rory smiled back at him and leaned in to greet him in their favorite way. As her lips touched his, however, Rory was met with something she did not see coming: nothing. She felt nothing that she used to, the sparks, butterflies. As she pulled away, she put on a smile anyway, stood up and held out her hand.

Dean grasped her hand and was assisted into a sitting position, from which he got up. The pair of them walked into the kitchen, hand in hand. Lorelai was sitting at the table eating a Pop-Tart and nursing her coffee. "Hey you two." She greeted without looked up.

Rory poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down next to her mother. "You know, a Pop-Tart isn't like an apple."

Lorelai looked up, confused. Rory laughed. "You shouldn't eat one every day."

Lorelai rolled her eyes at her joke. "I think they want to be eaten every day. I'm just trying to be fair to the packages at the back of the box that saw their brother Pop-Tarts get taken away to be consumed. No one wants to eat a depressed Pop-Tart, believe me." She pointed a finger at her daughter. "It is not a pretty thing."

"Mom?" Rory placated.

Lorelai sipped her coffee. "Sweetie, do you realize just how early it is?" she cocked her head to the side. "And! This is only my second cup of coffee." She stated incredulously.

Dean just laughed as he sipped some orange juice.

Lorelai continued drinking her coffee while Rory and Dean read the paper and this is how Abby found them when she came downstairs ten minutes later, her hair still damp from the shower.

Dean's nose was immediately invaded by the scent of apples so he looked up in confusion but found the source flipping her hair over her shoulder as she bent down to look in the fridge. Immediately he remembered what had happened last night with Abby and he felt his cheeks flush.

The bad thing was that he wasn't thinking about how they shouldn't have done it, but more of this morning when Rory kissed him just after waking him up. He felt more butterflies last night holding Abby close to him than this morning when Rory, his girlfriend, touched her lips to his.

Dean shook his head quickly and sighed deeply as these thoughts ran through his head. He shouldn't be thinking like this…it was wrong. Abby then sat down at the table, peeling a banana. Lorelai looked confused.

"Hun, where'd that come from?" she pointed to the banana in her daughter's hand, puzzlement covering her face. "I am pretty positive I didn't buy it."

Abby laughed as she continued to peel the sides down. "I bought a bunch at Doose's the other day. I wanted them and I figured that you wouldn't spontaneously buy them." She took a little bite. Mouth-full she said, "I took matters into my own hands." She smiled, the banana chunk staying as a lump in her cheek. Lorelai scoffed dramatically as she turned away from the table to walk out of the kitchen, no doubt to finish getting ready for the day.

Abby grabbed a section of the newspaper and began to read while taking a bite out of the banana in front of Dean, who was trying to not notice how she was slowly biting into the fruit. Dean blushed as he stared down at his empty glass in his hands. Rory just sat next to him, oblivious to what Abby's actions were. He awkwardly got up to put his glass in the sink and left to go quickly shower before they left for school.

* * *

Chilton was just as formidable on the inside as it looked on the outside. Madison walked down a hall to find the Headmaster's office as best she could with the instructions from a student. As she walked down the various hallways, she began to feel flustered. All of these damn hallways look the same! The students were all gawking at her while some avoided making eye contact with her at all. That's probably Paris' doing…hopefully the close resemblance between them won't cause to be too much trouble.

She knew how her cousin was and how abrasive and blunt she is.

Madison walked down another hallway and got déjà vu. She had definitely been down here before. Very annoyed, she looked behind her and back forward gripping the straps of her backpack.

"Hey, I couldn't help but notice you seem like you could be in need of some assistance?" a male voice said behind her.

She whipped her head back around to see a very adorable blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy looking sympathetically at her. "Yes, today's my first day and I'm trying to find the headmaster's office." Madison explained to this kind boy. "And I'm failing miserably." She grimaced, "everything looks the same."

"Well, I could escort you there if you like." He offered generously. "I was actually headed in that direction myself." He smiled down at her warmly.

Madison felt herself grinning despite her frustration in herself. "That would be great. Thank you so much, you have no idea how frustrated I was getting."

Mystery boy chuckled as he led the way down the hall she had just come down. "Actually I do. Everyone once had to feel the icy coldness set into their chest on the first day here." They came to another corridor and he took a left where she had come from the right. "That feeling that you won't be able to navigate the halls or the coursework will be too difficult or the worst: the teacher hates you for some reason unknown to you."

Listening to this guy talk was like hearing someone reading off her own thoughts. Everything he said was something she had thought about/stressed about in the past 48 hours: once she found out she was being shipped to Connecticut.

Madison realized he was still talking. "I was lucky that my big brother went here before me so I had to attend enough of his events and usually he would take me on a tour whenever I came because I didn't want to get lost once I was accepted."

"How did you know you were going to get in?" Madison inquired.

He glanced down at her puzzled face with a serious look. "I don't mean to sound obnoxious and privileged but my family has given a fair amount of money to this school and it was kind of understood that the children would attend." His eyes suddenly twinkled as his face morphed into a seamless smirk, "Don't get me wrong, I worked hard for my grades but I didn't have to if I didn't want to." He turned another corner and Madison found herself in from of a large wooden door with a gold plate with: HEADMASTER CHARLSTON engraved in it. "I like school, so if you ever need help in anything, let me know." He offered with a smile.

Madison chuckled quietly, "Thanks, I may take you up on that. What year are you here?"

"Sophomore."

She was about to ask what his name was but a large group of rowdy boys popped up out of seemingly nowhere and all but attacked her savior.

"Come on man, let's go! We're already late."

"Where have you been, dude?"

"Geez Dugray, did you lost your watch or something, you're never late."

All the boys started asking and talking to him at once so Madison couldn't get a word in. "Thank you again!" she called as he was basically dragged/herded down the hallway.

As he heard her voice he popped his head back up through his friends. "Good luck! I'll see you around!"

Madison watched as one of his friends glanced back at her, smirked and winked, and then grabbed mystery boys neck in a hold, probably pumping him for information. Who was this girl he was with, why was he with her…seriously guys gossip almost as bad as girls some times.

Gathering her courage she knocked on the heavy door and entered once she heard a woman grant her entrance. What she didn't see was a pair of blue eyes on her as she disappeared behind the heavy wooden door.

* * *

The warning bell still hadn't rung yet for students to get into their homerooms so Tristan estimated he had about ten minutes before he walked in, tardy as usual. He stood at his locker, figuring out which binders he needed for the first half of the day before he switched at lunch when laughter reached his ears.

It was like he was tuned to hear her, and he could sense when she was coming near him. The control she had over him was ridiculous because he would always be there, hopeful. He disgusted himself but couldn't help it.

He couldn't help it at all; she'll never get out of head. Rory will always be the bar that all other girls have to meet to even have some kind of a chance. But he knew he wouldn't even think of tying himself down for the chance she wanted him. Tristan groaned as he realized how crazy he was for not giving up even though she has stated multiple times her disinterest in him. Not even disinterest, she seems to hate, even loathe him. Not that he could blame her; he was quite annoying in his kindergarten games for attention.

Tristin pressed his forehead into the cool metal of the locker next to his until he heard someone laughing near him. He didn't even have to look up to recognize that pitiful laugh. "Hello Paris."

"When are you going to stop putting yourself through this Tristan?" asked Paris, some rare emotion displaying as her voice caught in her throat as she looked at his dejected body, sagging against the lockers as he turned to look at her. "I hate to say this but you need to get her out of your head." She began to lecture but his attention found its way over to the twins at their lockers, laughing and joking with each other.

"Tristan!" Paris snapped her fingers in front of his face to get his attention. As his eyes looked into hers she could see how much this was actually hurting him, despite his tough outer shell that barely anyone sees through. He may pretend that things just roll off his back but she knew every time Rory talked to him, he stored it inside of him and every time she rejected him, it hurt. "Hey, don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Tristan had already snapped out of his funk, "Don't worry about me Paris. I'm fine." He slammed his locker shut and left his childhood friend worrying about him in the hall before the object of his affection called her over.

"Hey Paris!" Rory and Abby greeted her as she walked to their lockers.

"Hello, are you both ready for the English assignments today?" she rolled her eyes and scoffed before the girls could answer her. "I swear the professors here all gather together and scheme to come up with a way to annoy us the most and apparently making the students act out various scenes from literature is the best they come up with."

"I don't mind them that much, I think they're kind of fun." Abby chimed in. Rory and Paris stared at her, wide-eyed while she looked through her backpack. She finally looked up, noticing the silence. "What?"

Rory sputtered to explain. "Wha-, how? Abs, how can you enjoy acting with teenagers that are lacking any real sense of the characters' motives or anything important?"

"Well, I usually help them decipher the meaning. I like it." She looked to Paris who was still in shock of her statement. "So, yes I'm excited."

"Huh. Well, that's nice for you. New topic now: Rory, how is your giant of a boyfriend these days?" Paris asked conversationally, no ulterior motive like Louise and Madeline would have had.

Rory's face flushed as she immediately thought of this morning when she felt nothing whilst kissing him. "Oh, you know. He's great…um," Rory struggled to keep talking about him. "He slept over last night after the movie night…" She kept talking but Paris tuned her out once she saw Abby shift uncomfortably once Rory mentioned the movie night. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Abby squirm at whatever Rory was saying. Finally, Abby noticed that Paris' curious eyes were scrutinizing her and immediately froze.

They said their goodbyes soon later with Abby looking somewhat fearfully at Paris while Rory chattered on down the hallway.

* * *

Madison walked out of the Headmaster's office feeling a little more at ease. None of her classes immediately presented themselves to be overly difficult so she wouldn't be bogged down from the start. She walked into the class she had right before lunch and walked up to the teacher and she told her to sit in the middle row, second to last seat from the back. As she made her way to her new seat, she realized that a large group of boys were congregated around her desk and someone was using the surface as a seat, while they faced the back wall talking with their friends.

"Excuse me, I think you're on my desk." She tentatively said to a boy with unruly brown hair. He craned his neck to look at her.

"Am I?" He hopped down to stand in front of her. "Err, sorry." He turned away and sat on another desk in the back row. Madison sat down but felt her cheeks burn as she heard the boy say something under his breath that erupted laughter from his gang of friends.

Class started soon after, Madison opened up a fresh notebook to take notes diligently when she heard the door open. "Ahhh, Mr. Dugray, thank you for finally gracing us with your presence. I can see you're following directly in your brother's footsteps. Excellent." The teacher said, her words dripping with sarcasm.

Madison looked up and her eyes landed on her mystery guy from this morning handing a note to the teacher who glanced at it briefly, then crumpled it and tossed it into the trash barrel while the boy smiled smugly at her. He turned and began going to his seat but once he started down her row, his eyes found hers and his face broke into a wide grin once seeing her. Madison couldn't help but smile back at him as he continued to come towards her. "Well then, fancy that." He greeted her as he sat in the seat behind her.

Not even five minutes had passed when Madison felt a poke in the middle of her back. She looked back at him questioningly. He said nothing but slipped her a note, complete with dramatic flair as though it was a drug deal.

She exhaled a laugh and accepted the slip of paper and turned back around to focus on the teacher for a moment before opening the note.

_Hello again! I hope your first classes weren't too painful for you. By the way, I'm Joey. What's your name, oh new girl that bares a remarkable resemblance to one Chilton's Paris Gellar?_

Madison laughed slightly as she read what he wrote. "Miss Perry? Is there something you find humorous about my lecture?" the teacher called her out once seeing she was not paying attention and had laughed while she was talking about early life of Aztecs in Mexico, specifically human sacrifice.

Madison's head jerked up at once and she felt her face flush red with embarrassment. This was not a good first impression she was making. "Um, no. Sorry professor." She mumbled, cheeks a lovely pink shade.

The teacher cleared her throat deliberately. "By the way class, we have a new student! Her name is Madison Perry. Let's all welcome her." She continued her lecture after fixing Madison with a stern look.

"Well, that couldn't have felt good." A whisper in her left ear made her twitch suddenly. "My, my, you are jumpy aren't you?" Without waiting for her to answer, Joey leaned further forward. "So nice to meet you Madison, don't worry, everyone here has been caught by Professor Hardass for something. Consider yourself lucky that it was for something little, and when she hadn't really gotten into the material."

Madison turned her head slightly to look at him, who was basically next to her ear. "Is that supposed to make me feel better, or something?" she whispered.

Joey smirked. "Nah, just trying to explain a bit…okay, I'm gonna sit back now because I have a feeling that I'm going to be bitched out in about twenty seconds. Talk to you at the end of class." With one final grin Joey sat back in his seat right before the teacher looked out into the students to emphasize a point.

Madison stealthily slid a piece of paper behind of onto Joey's desk, much to his surprise and joy.

_Good timing. What are you psychic or something?_

Joey hastily scribbled back to her and glanced up at the teacher, then reached forward and stuck the paper in between the material of her Chilton sweatervest, and her dress shirt. The paper was resting on her shoulder, concealed from view. When she knew the teacher had her back turned, she pulled out the paper from in-between the fabrics.

_That'd be cool, but unfortunately no. It's just happened many times, I have a bit of an intuition to when teachers will think they need to stress a certain point in their notes. Also, if they hadn't creepily made eye contact with every single student recently, that's also a good indicator._

She smiled down at his witty comments and the rest of the class passed without incident. The bell rang and as Madison began packing up she saw Joey stop in front of her desk. Looking up, she saw he was watching her put her books and notebook into her backpack. She blushed slightly because she had a filing system within her backpack so she knows where each subject was.

"You don't have to wait for me, you know." Madison offered.

"No, the new girl can never eat alone on her first day lunch…it's just too sad. And I would love to hear more about you, Madison Perry. I would like to escort you to the lunch table."

Madison giggled slightly but then remembered something. "Oh! But I promised Paris that I'd eat with her my first day." She said, looking slightly disgruntled.

But that didn't stop Joey, "Hey, that's okay! I grew up with her anyway." He furrowed his brow for a second. "Hold on," Madison finished her sorting, got up and began walking to the door. Joey followed along like a little puppy, trying to figure something out. "How do you know her again? And please explain your freakishly cloned appearances."

Madison laughed. "Well, she is my cousin. I moved to Florida when I was six but she always visited every summer, so we stayed close." Joey led the way to the cafeteria, walking at a casual pace that kept up with Madison's quicker stride because he was so much taller than her. "And I guess we look alike just due to random genetic similarities. I can't really divulge my top-secret plan to you, can I?" she smirked.

Joey was intrigued immediately. "Top-secret, huh?" he leaned in closer to her. "I must hear more." He pleaded with his puppy dog eyes.

Madison's heart melted as she looked into his face. "Alright, I'll tell you." She stopped in the hallway and looked around stealthily. "I am actually a clone of Paris from the past. This is what she looked like two whole years ago. My job is to slowly turn everyone into Paris Geller so that education will be revolutionized." She said with wide eyes.

Joey stared at her, his face blank. Then he pressed his lips together tightly, in an effort to keep in the laughter that was clearly trying to get out. Finally he couldn't take it anymore, with her staring at him, completely serious. He burst out laughing in the middle of the hallway and finally Madison couldn't keep a straight face anymore and joined in.

The pair of them continued laughing and walking until they reached the cafeteria doors. As if they read each other's mind, both sobered up at the same moment. Each of them noticing it, they looked quickly at each other, a surprised look on Madison's face, a quirked smile on Joey.

Joey held open the door for Madison and held his arm out in from of her, "After you madam," His blue eyes twinkling.

"Thank you, sir." She walked into the room, Joey right behind her but she spotted Paris sitting at a table with two girls who she noticed as she drew closer were clearly twins. Eager to greet her cousin, Madison walked quickly to her table, a grin on her face.

Paris lost the scowl that had been plaguing her face since her class when she saw Madison making her way through the cafeteria. It quickly found its way back onto her face as she saw how the male population was reacting to her cousin as she flounced by them. Tables of boys were all jesting with each other, nudging elbows and blatantly pointing and eyeing her up and down.

She quickly fixed her face with a smile as Madison reached her. "Hi Paris!" her cousin beamed, a huge smile in place effectively stunning all the males in the vicinity, Joey included. Her smiled faltered as she got to the table and saw Paris looking somewhat hostile. "What's with the face?"

Paris looked away from the adoring boys and focused on her cousin, looking questioning at her. "Sorry Maddie, I was just staring down your infatuated audience." Madison furrowed her brow at her and Paris sighed slightly. "You seem to have made quite the impression on the male population of this school." Madison looked slightly shocked, and disbelieving.

"That's not true, Paris." She said as she sat down across from her. "No one is paying any attention to me." Just to disprove her point, Paris sent a pointed look at Joey who was blatantly staring at Madison. Lucky for him, he noticed it before Madison did and dropped his gaze to the table.

Abby and Rory sat quietly for about a minute while no one said anything, everyone eating. "Well, since we clearly are not going to have introductions, I'm Abby!" she stuck her hand out to Madison across the table.

"And I'm Rory!" She said as she turned and faced Madison in the seat next to her.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you!" Madison shook both their hands as Paris just grumbled to herself, scooping herself more mashed potatoes from her plate.

Joey was beginning to feel a bit left out. "And everybody knows me, isn't that right ladies?" He held his arms out in a wide gesture, grin on his face. His statement got the appropriate and expected responses: Paris rolled her eyes and scoffed, Rory just shook her head with a small smile on her face, and Abby placated him with an exaggerated nod of the head and kind look in her eyes, while Madison giggled slightly and blushed. He winked at her once she chanced a glance at him that sent her back to blushing modestly.

They all continued to enjoy their lunches until Tristan walked into the cafeteria and strolled past their table glancing at Rory, who didn't notice him. Paris of course noticed this interaction between him and most oblivious person ever to walk the Chilton Halls. She felt bad for her pining friend so she decided to do something about it. "So Rory," she leaned forward, towards her. "I couldn't help noticing you were a little evasive this morning when I mentioned Dean…" At the mention of his name both Rory and Abby froze. "Was there any particular reason for that?" Paris probed.

Rory looked up at her and attempted to be blasé about it. "Nah, I was tired this morning. Didn't get a lot of sleep." She said, waving her hand around as if it would help her explain it.

Paris wasn't buying it, however, and everyone else at the table was intrigued with their conversation. "Uh huh, uh huh, I don't believe you." Rory sighed. "Come on, tell me! I know when something is bugging you." She gave her a knowing look.

Rory exhaled loudly. "You do have that obnoxious ability to do so, I suppose. Although, I don't want to talk about it here." She glanced around at other tables nervously. Paris huffed.

"Are you really worried that someone at this table is going to tell your relationship troubles around school? Come on Rory, you can trust us. Also, who is Madison gonna tell? She doesn't know anyone!"

"Thanks Paris!" Madison said sarcastically.

"Well, you know it's true." Turning back to Rory, Paris looked at her expectantly.

Rory took a deep breath. "Fine. This morning…"

* * *

Tristan sat across the cafeteria but he had a clear view of the girls' table…plus Joey. Why was he there? Then Tristan remembered how enamored Joey looked when he looked at Paris' hot cousin. Everyone at the table suddenly scooted closer to Rory as she bent lower to say something. What could that be about?!

The bell ended their lunch period not soon enough for Rory as she told everyone about how she is feeling about Dean and her worries. Now she had to deal with a mind-numbingly dull pass/fail class that required no effort at all. It was a stupid class required for juniors to take to get them 'ready for college'. The teacher started right on time and began to lecture on the importance of getting your application in on time. As if Rory would send it in late. She scoffed as the thought passed though her mind.

The classroom door opened to reveal Tristan, looking ridiculously laid back with his hair tousled and his tie loose around his neck with the first couple buttons undone from his collar. Rory couldn't believe he got away with so much. He handed the teacher his note, most likely written by himself and sat himself behind Rory.

"'Sup Mary?" he whispered in her ear causing her to flinch slightly and check the teacher, who was just reading from their slides on the screen. Rory huffed in exasperation. No. Effort.

She turned around to glare at him. "Must you do that? Hasn't it gotten old yet?" Her blue eyes wide.

Tristan just smirked at her, "Not yet." Rory just turned back forward and tried to ignore him. Unfortunately, the teacher didn't seem to have the same idea.

"Class, you will be paired up and required to complete a project by the end of this week about one specific topic. I will be deciding both, so listen up."

Rory groaned and put her head down on her folded arms on her desk. She just waited for it, she knew it was coming. "Dugray and Gilmore. You're topic is 'Choosing the Right Path: Work, Military, or School.'

Her head was still on the desk when she heard him chuckle under his breath. "Looks like you're having the best day ever, Mare!" Rory quickly turned to fix him with a glare but found she couldn't as he was genuinely smiling at her, his blue eyes twinkling impishly.

"Yeah, I guess so…" she finished lamely. Looking down at her notes, she couldn't believe how she felt trapped in her own body and controlled by some foreign power: hormones.

* * *

**HIHI!! God, I'm sorry I suck so much at this updating thing. I actually did have a good portion of this written back when I updated the last chapter, but I got stuck and I didn't want to just give you what I had then. And then college is continuing to kick my butt. ANYWAY, hope you enjoyed this and as always, please…**

**REVIEW! I'm interested in what you're thinking. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own. **

Chapter 4

"Come on dude, let's go!"

Tristan looked at his brother humorously. "And what, may I ask am I hurrying for?" a playful grin on his face as he rummaged through his locker to try and find the stupid book for that useless college-prep class.

Joey tried to play it off, "No particular reason, I mean, I just wanna get home, you know?" His gaze slipped from his brother down the hall where there was a cluster of girls all chatting and laughing.

"Uh huh, you just want get home?" Tristan asked. "AHA!" He pulled the book out from under a pile of papers triumphantly. "You mean," He looked at Joey and nudged him in the chest. "You just would like me to hurry up so you can walk by that group of girls that happens to just contain a Miss Madison Perry, am I right?" Tristan gave him a knowing look.

Joey mumbled something under his breath while he jammed his hands into his jacket pockets.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Come on man, you know that's why! Quit busting my balls, will ya?"

Tristan held up his hands in surrender. "Whoa! Dude, I'm just messing with you, alright? I didn't know it meant so much to you, I just thought she was another mild interest. My mistake." Tristan pulled on his coat and slammed his locker shut while Joey held out his bag for him to grab. He exhaled a laugh, "You got it bad, man."

Joey just gazed down the hall. "I know."

The two brothers made their way down the hall at a leisurely pace until they were about to pass the girls. Joey slowed down and Tristan just followed suit. "Joey!" someone called out. His head turned in the direction of the voice, and it was Madison. She smiled at him and moved past a few people until she was next to him. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me around today. I would've been so screwed if you hadn't shown up." She flashed him another smile that he couldn't help but return. "See you tomorrow?" she asked with a bit if hopefulness.

"Of course." Joey responded, sounding much calmer than he felt. He tugged on Tristan's bag strap to get his attention and nodded his head towards the door. Tristan broke his focus from Rory who had caught him several times looking at her…but that meant she was looking at him for some reason.

"See you later ladies."

Tristan began to follow Joey until he heard, "Bye Tristan!" He looked back and saw Abby smiling at him. He winked as he walked away from them and out the doors to the parking lot. Back inside, Rory was still confused as to what just happened with Tristan and why she suddenly felt a monster roar to life in her stomach when Abby said goodbye to him.

There had to be an explanation to it, there had to be. She was just being protective, yeah that's it. She didn't want Abby to have to deal with that snake of a guy. Even as she was thinking it, she felt uneasy referring to him that way. What is going on?

000000000000000000000000000

Abby and Rory were each in their own rooms, working on their homework when Rory heard a knock at the backdoor. Since she was sure that her sister didn't hear it upstairs she heaved herself up from her bed where she was studying and walked through the kitchen. Glancing at the tall dark shape through the curtain, Rory felt a little uneasy but she quickly pushed it to the back of her mind as she opened the door to reveal Dean. He immediately smiled at her and his dimples were very prominent as he stepped into the kitchen to grasp her waist. "Hi there." He smiled adorably and brought his face to meet hers.

Rory smiled for a moment until her lips were otherwise occupied. Dean pulled her body closer to his until they were flush against each other and she could feel his hard lean body wrap around her with such emotion, she felt suddenly guilty. Dean sensed something was wrong and paused his ministrations to pull his head slightly back. Gazing into her deep blue eyes, he knew something was wrong with his girlfriend.

"Rory, is everything okay?" he asked, concerned. She gave her head a little shake and looked up at him.

"Yep!" smiling brightly at him, "Couldn't be better." Rory grabbed his hand to lead him into the living room. "I was just finishing up some homework but I can hang out now."

Dean stood up immediately. "Rory, go finish whatever you were working on, I don't want to be a distraction. I only stopped by to see if you were free." He rubbed her upper arm slightly. "I'll just come back later."

"NO!" Rory slightly shouted at him and made him pause in surprise, his eyebrows raised. "Just hang out here until I'm done. I won't be that long, I swear. Just watch TV or something."

Dean shrugged. "Alright, I just didn't want to be in your way." He wrapped his strong arms around her waist again and leaned his head near hers until his lips were at her ear and whispered, "Perhaps after homework we could watch a movie without so much watching." Before pulling away, he nibbled the outer shell of her ear, enough to give her chills.

Rory just chuckled at him and placed her hands on his chest to push him down onto the couch. "Whatever you like, I shouldn't be that long." She left with a parting smile and returned to her room and book.

Dean didn't turn on the television, he just sat there thinking. Something was definitely up with Rory; he just couldn't put his finger on it. It was almost as if she was skittish about something and it definitely involved him somehow.

Deciding not to just lounge on the couch he got up and ventured upstairs to see if Abby was up to anything. He paused outside her door for a moment and peered in to see her typing away at something and bobbing her head along to some music. As he was about to leave because she was clearly working on a paper or something she suddenly exclaimed, "YES!"

Intrigued, Dean knocked on the door and Abby nearly fell out of her chair in surprise. "Dean!"

"Hey Abby." He smiled his grinned the dimply smile and walked into her room slowly. "How's it going?"

"Great actually! I just finished my paper and that was the last bit of homework of the day and it isn't even due for another two weeks." She grinned smugly at her achievement.

"Wow. That's amazing. I wish I had that work ethic…or the teachers that give you over two weeks to do a paper."

Abby laughed at him and got up from her desk, yawning and stretching. Dean tried not to notice the bit of pale flesh she exposed when her shirt rode up for a moment. "At least I finished this early in the day, now I can relax." She turned towards him. "So what are you up to?"

Dean shrugged while putting his hands into his pockets. "Nothing, just waiting for Rory to be done with her homework so I thought I'd see what you were up to." He wandered around her room while she watched his back.

"Well, I am done now if you want to hang out." She suggested.

Dean smiled. "I'd love to."

Abby looked around her room for something to do. "TV?" she asked as a last resort after seeing nothing else.

"Sure!"

"Okay, make yourself comfortable, I'm just gonna get some food." Abby left Dean in her room and walked down the stairs and stopped at Rory's room. She was about to enter until she saw her sister sigh in exasperation and angrily cross something out on her paper.

"Hmm, maybe later." She said quietly to herself as she backed out of the doorway. She grabs a few things and heads back upstairs to Dean.

Who was sitting on the floor.

"…Dean?" Abby pondered as she walked into her room and deposited everything on her bed. "You know, you don't have to sit on the floor."

"Yeah I know…I just found it comfortable."

"Alrighty." Abby sat down on her bed and flipped though the channels until she found a random Japanese gameshow that she is addicted too. As she found it, she gasped at the same time as Dean.

"I love this show!" she both said at the same time. They looked at each other for a moment before looking away quickly. Dean cleared his throat while he grabbed a pop-tart from the food stash Abby brought in.

Tristan was in his room trying to work on his homework but could not get what happened at lunch out of his head. What could Rory have been talking about that made everyone at the table lean in to hear better. Everyone at the table…including JOEY!

He jumped up from his desk and all but sprinted to his brother's room at the end of the hall. Choosing not to knock, he barged in to find his brother changing out of his school uniform. "Dude! Knocking? Ever heard of it?"

Tristan laughed. "What? You're basically the younger version of myself. Also, don't be such a girl." As he passed him he shoved him one-handedly in the shoulder. He sat down on Joey's bed while his brother tugged on a t-shirt.

"May I ask to what do I owe this pleasure of your presence?" Joey said sarcastically.

Tristan grabbed a miniature basketball and began tossing it up in the air from his perch on the bed. "Actually, I would like to know what was going on today during lunch. You had the fabulous front-row seat for the Rory Gilmore confessional." He paused tossing the ball and looked seriously at his brother. "Please tell me what she said that had everyone _so intrigued_." Tristan pleaded with Joey, and even gave him his sad puppy look.

"You know, that look doesn't really have an effect on the male gender, and especially your brother…I use it too." Joey pointed out. He took a deep breath.

"Oh quite being so dramatic!" Tristan tossed the basketball at Joey's back and hit him in the shoulder. "Just tell me!"

"Fine! I swear Tris, you're worse than a girl with all the gossip you want. Rory said that she and Dean haven't felt right recently."

Tristan's eyes lit up. "Really!"

Joey continued. "Yeah, Paris was questioning her and Rory finally caved saying 'I don't know what it is but when we kiss, there isn't the spark that used to be there. I don't know what happened, it's so sudden.' Then everyone offered their inputs and the one I think you'll be interested to hear is a viewpoint that lovely Madison came up with."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, she's brilliant, can we get on with it?"

Joey chuckled to himself at holding the power over his brother. "Sure. She said, 'Well, maybe you're feeling like this because someone else has caught your eye and you don't know what to do about them.' How about that?" Joey wiggled his eyebrows at Tristan who sat with his jaw slack.

"Could that even be possible?" Joey pondered out loud, not really looking for an answer. But Tristan was ready with one.

"I think it may be true, or there is a distinct possibility of it being true." Tristan hopped off the bed and started pacing the room back and forth before Joey. "Today in class she wasn't as vile to me as she has been before and near the end of class when we paired together for a project, she couldn't even come up with a scathing reply to my taunts…I need to see her." He stopped suddenly as he came to realization.

His brother got up quickly and blocked the door. "What? Are you serious? You can't just _go see her_! Are you crazy? For all you know, maybe she was tired of putting up with you."

Tristan shook his head determinately and tried to shove Joey from the doorway. "No, I can go and get my stuff for the project and ask if she wants to work on it…it's perfect." He whispered to himself.

He finally got Joey in a good position to squeeze his shoulder in-between the door and Joey and with a quick nudge, his brother was sent sprawling onto the floor watching his older brother jog down the hallway. "By the way, nice play-by-play!" Tristan called over his shoulder as he neared his room.

Not even getting up Joey put his head in his arms and said to himself, "Gahh, what did I dooooo."

Dean and Abby were both watching TV when Rory finally finished her homework. They had moved onto a baking challenge on Food Network and both were basically drooling.

"Hey guys!" Rory broke the silent stupor of the room. Apparently no one noticed her presence because there was no movement. She decided to try a move creative approach. Rory tiptoed into the room and crouched next to Dean. "What are we watching?" she whispered into his ear.

The poor guy nearly had a heart attack, he jerked so violently. As if he was guilty of something he looked around and jumped up. "Hey!"

Abby sat up from her position on her stomach. "Hey Rory, how'd the homework turn out?"

Rory left Dean and sat next to her sister on the bed. "I finally figured out what I was supposed to do. I swear my brain is dying or something."

Abby started cleaning up all the food wrappings that she and Dean had devoured. "Or something could be on your mind that you need to clear." She suggested not too subtly.

Rory gave her a warning look and cleared her throat. "Dean, do you think you could actually help me with something and perhaps that movie could happen after?"

"Sure thing." He looked strangely at Rory but followed her out of the room anyway.

Once they got downstairs, Rory began organizing everything on the coffee table. "Okay, I was wondering if you could help me with a project that I am paired with someone I'm not going to mention right now."

"Rory?" Dean narrowed his eyes slightly. "Is it who I think it is?"

Rory took a deep breath. "Of course it is. I swear the teachers want to see me uncomfortable."

Dean just shook her head but Rory could see as he helped gather everything, his jaw was clenched in annoyance.

The two of them got all of her supplies spread out around the coffee table and notes near them and were about to start researching when a knock came at the door. Abby, who was just coming down the stairs called to them, "I'll get it."

But it wasn't needed because as she neared the door, she saw it was already opening with her mother chatting to someone still concealed. "Hey honey! How was your day?" Lorelai walked into the house with a trailing Tristan Dugray on her tail.

"Wha-?" Abby stood astounded.

"Hello there darlin'." Tristan passed by Abby and into the living room after Lorelai.

"Offspring, you never told me just how charming Mr. Dugray is." Lorelai gestured to Tristan, whose hands were full of coffee. "I see him knocking on the door, holding this blessed liquid and then!" Lorelai holds her heart. "He tells me, that one of them is for _me_!"

"Mom!" Rory scolded her mother exasperatedly but Lorelai grabbed one of the to-go cups and pats Tristan on the shoulder.

"Sweetie, you are welcome here anytime."

"MOM!" Rory whined.

"What? The boy brought me coffee, that scores major points hun. But anyway, I'm gonna go change real quick then I'll be off to my date with Luke so don't wait up because I won't be coming home." She smiled impishly and disappeared upstairs, leaving the kids alone in the living room, Rory stunned at what happened, Abby confused, and Dean livid.

"So Mary, how would you like to work on this project? Oh look, you've gotten everything organized already." He began to take off his coat while Dean fidgeted in place, watching with anger radiating off his body.

Dean was about to lunge in Tristan's direction and luckily for the blonde boy, Rory spotted this just in time. She placed her hand on Dean's chest and held him there slightly, while looking in his eyes. "Hey, I did not invite him over here. But we do need to work on this project, so I am not going to ask him to leave." Naturally, Dean began to sputter something incoherent just to show his displeasure of the situation. "I know you hate this." She said apologetically and looked into his eyes to calm him down and it did a little but he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about her. Normally she would be just as outraged as he was.

"But you can stay if you want to!" She scoped out the room and when she noticed Tristan chatting with Abby, her brain clicked. "You can hang with Abby!" She exclaimed loudly. "Yes it's perfect; she can keep you occupied while I work on this thing with Tristan. And then once we have worked on it enough for the evening," Rory stood on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on his lips gently. "We can have a little fun without the extra people." She kissed him again, slightly lingering to try and gain back the special tingle in her stomach that has been lost recently. Unfortunately, Dean was still mad and pulled away before anything could happen. He rested his forehead on hers and sighed. "Fine, but I'm not happy about this."

"Me neither!" Rory agreed with a little too much vigor. "Abby!" she snapped her fingers to get her attention away from Tristan.

"Yah?" She called from her perch on the arm of the couch.

"While me and Tristan work on the project, do you think you could entertain Dean?" Rory pleaded with her sister. Abby hopped off the couch, "entertain, huh? Well I can't promise a singing and dancing showcase, but I can hold his attention." Abby smiled cheekily at Dean, a twinkle in her eye and immediately, he felt his stomach give a little twinge.

Abby and Dean went into the kitchen to get something to eat, leaving Tristan alone with Rory who had her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "Come on Mary, let's get started!" Tristan clapped his hands together and sat down at the coffee table to sift through the materials Rory laid out. She intentionally took her time, pouting as much as possible until she settled down on the floor next to him.

"You know, if you keep pouting like that, your face may get stuck like that." Tristan said, without even looking up. Rory snapped her head in his direction, looking slightly amused.

"It's true babe, I read it in a magazine once." Lorelai chimed in as she came down the stairs in a dark blue halter dress with a yellow wrap around her shoulders, still holding the coffee cup. "I'm leaving now, have you seen my yellow clutch purse anywhere?"

"Yes I have, in my room."

"And why may I ask is it in there?"

"Because it's mine." Rory said blatently.

Lorelai pouted for a moment before perking up. "Oh. Well may I borrow-"

"It's next to my dresser on the left side."

"Thank you!" she flounced out of the room and left the house soon after.

"So anyway, your face really would get stuck that way if you kept it in such a fixed way. Now we wouldn't want that now would we?" Tristan looked over at her and smirked. Rory laughed a little before divulging into her notes.

"Alright, from what I can tell, we just need to go into the basics of the three different branches we've been instructed to show: college, military, or work." Rory kicked into knowledge and planner mode. She handed Tristan a few papers to take notes from. "Now, while I deal with researching some colleges, you can do the types of military that are available." She instructed, leaving him with no room to object. Not that he would have anyway, it was a piece of cake assignment, and any time he could spend with Rory was time he enjoyed.

For the next half hour, the two of them each took down notes from their books and handouts from class. Rory was working diligently, and Tristan was putting on a good show like he was as into it as she was. But in-between pages of information, he would just chance glimpses in Rory's direction. The way she threw herself wholly into an assignment was amazing. Nothing could distract her focus.

Laughter was heard from the kitchen and Rory's head snapped up. Well, almost nothing could break her focus…except for Bagboy hanging out with her sister. Tristan cleared his throat to gain her attention and laughed a little at how much she jumped in her seat. He decided to not call her on it, "So I think that we should have a basic three columns of information, and I have finished with the military research." Tristan looked at her for approval but she was already pulling her notes from her research to add to the poster board that he had tentatively laid out.

"This is really good Tristan. Now I can just add my notes and then we can finish the last bit tomorrow. We should focus on making these two parts the best they can be because it is what most students choose anyway, only a small percentage chooses to go straight into working."

Rory continued talking about her plans on it while Tristan actively gave input and ideas of his own on how to make something better, surprising Rory quite a bit. He was actually interested in making this project good and he wasn't slacking off. And even though she hated to admit it, she knew her barrier to him was breaking…slowly but surely.

0000000000000000000000000000

Abby and Dean had been raiding the kitchen when she decided to see how her sister was handling the Tristan situation. Expecting to see her with a scowl on her face and a Tristan lounging against something, not doing anything, she was amazed to see that they were each scribbling down notes and conferring with each other about whether something would be good to include, and Rory had a smile on her face! A damn smile was adorning Rory Gilmore's face while in the room with Tristan Dugray! Abby also saw how Tristan would sneak looks at her sister when her thought she wasn't looking and then go back to his work while Rory would then _look at him in the same way_. What was the world coming to? Abby couldn't believe her luck that Rory might like Tristan and Dean will soon be free.

Abby shook her head of the thought as she walked back to the kitchen table and sat down next to Dean. She wouldn't do anything until she knew it would be okay. She took a deep breath and grabbed some chips that Dean had put into a bowl for them. He looked at her and just smiled kindly as he ate his chips and flipped through a magazine.

Almost ten minutes had passed since either of them had said anything and Abby was growing restless. She could feel the awkwardness seep into the room with every passing minute of silence. And she could tell that Dean was equally as uncomfortable because he hadn't turned a page in five minutes and his eyes were not moving on the page, they were stuck. Abby let out a sigh and this seemed to break Dean from his trance a little. He looked up and shook his head a bit. He chuckled and said, "I think I just spaced out thinking about nothing." Abby felt a smile tug at her mouth then couldn't contain it and burst out a laugh at how mundane that statement had been. Dean, realizing it as well joined in the laughter.

"Do you want to take a walk?" Dean asked Abby. "It's supposed to be a nice night temperature-wise." He asked almost desperately in search of something to do.

"I'd love to. I just need to run upstairs and grab shoes." She left the kitchen and waved to Rory as she passed them going up the stairs.

Dean ambled out of the kitchen and greeted Rory. "Hey." He exhaled, looking at his girlfriend, surrounded by books and notebooks sitting next to Tristan, but he didn't even acknowledge him.

Rory looked up from her notecard she was writing and smiled at him. "Hi Dean!" she looked at him standing near the stairs, looking anxious. "What's up?" she asked, a confused look on her face.

Dean glanced upstairs briefly before meeting her eyes, "We're going on a walk because staring at the kitchen wall can _only_ be so fun for so long." He said bitterly. Rory looked a little surprised.

"I thought you were having fun in there." She furrowed her brow, "I heard laughing!"

"Yeah well, it was because we had nothing to do and we both spaced out." He shrugged. "I need fresh air anyway."

"Okay, you sure you're alright?" she asked, still a little concerned. Tristan finally looked up from his notes that he had been diligently trying to focus on, but this was too annoying.

"If he said he was fine, then he's fine. Obviously he wants to get out of the near vicinity of me, and that's understandable." He smirked and gestured to himself. "I mean, I can be very captivating, and that makes other guys uncomfortable to be near someone with-"

"You really like to hear yourself talk, don't you?" Dean suddenly flared up. "God, Rory I hope for your sanity that this project is finished soon before he kills your brain with all the incessant rambling." Dean had been taking steps all while talking and now he was near the edge of the table, with Tristan across from him, smirking away. "Wipe that damn smirk off your face!" He finally yelled. But Tristan wasn't going to let himself get yelled at and not do anything so he started spitting back insults, from his spot on the floor.

Abby finally came down the stairs once she heard Dean start to yell. "Oh hell, what happened now?" she said as she hurried down the hall and as she reached the top of the stairs, she saw Dean towering over Tristan and Rory, who looked like a deer in the headlights and was instinctively cowering into Tristan and away from Dean, even though they were both bellowing over each other, not even listening to what each other was saying.

"Hey!" Abby shouted. Everyone stopped and looked up at her. "You guys can't even get along for five minutes?" Coming down the stairs, Abby shook her head. "I had hoped that you guys would have attempted to get along, for Rory's sake at least!" Rory looked down at her hands in her lap once that was said, trying to stay out of it. Thinking that no one was looking at her, because she assumed Abby was trying to calm Dean down, she quickly looked up at Tristan to find him looking at her, as always. As their eyes connected, he could see how uncomfortable she was with this situation and how cornered she felt.

Abby tugged on the sleeve of Dean's sweatshirt. "Come on." She pulled him in the direction of the door while he glared daggers at Tristan.

000000000000000000000000000

Once Abby and Dean disappeared into the night, Rory let out the breath she didn't even realize she had been holding. Tristan heard it and saw her visibly relax against the couch. "Well, that was exciting." Rory's gaze snapped over to his face to see if he was joking but she realized that he actually seemed exasperated by what just happened.

She softened her eyes once she realized that he didn't want to fight, he just wanted to defend himself. "You know," Rory shifted until her whole body was facing him and looked into his eyes, "you actually aren't as bad a person as I had previously thought you were. You just have a wall that many people aren't allowed behind." She concluded. Tristan was immediately shocked that she figured it out so quickly. He did hide behind his cocky demeanor and act like nothing fazed him ever, but it was just a charade to keep people at a safe distance emotionally.

He realized she was still talking and focused on her ridiculously blue eyes. "-and I'm just happy that I am finally getting to see the real Tristan behind the wall because I think he is a really good guy." Suddenly she was coming towards him with her arms open.

Oh dear God she was going to hug him.

As she connected with his body, Rory felt warm and tingles in her belly. He felt right to be against her in such a way. They held each other for a few moments longer than necessary but neither of them complained.

"Alright. Let's finish this thing." Tristan cleared his throat and got back done to business. Rory smiled at him trying to focus on his notes. She didn't look away and soon enough he peeked out the corner of his eye and caught hers and a cunning grin appeared on his face as he looked back down a hint of a blush on his cheeks at being caught. Rory grinned and turned back to the table and dug into her notes once again.

000000000000000000000

Abby needed Dean out of that house. For everyone's sake, he needed fresh air and an environment that was not filled with Rory and Tristan together. She saw the little look she gave him before they left and she totally read the look on her sister's face. She knew her better than anyone else and it was the face usually reserved for boyfriends when she wants to be comforted. Abby didn't know what to think anymore, because it seems to her that Rory and Tristan will be getting together soon, hopefully not with Dean being left in the dark while it happens. If things do go the way they seem to be, she hoped that Rory will do the right thing and choose ahead of time and save Dean some emotional scarring. Well, a little less than what will obviously happen.

The two of them walked down the dark streets in silence until they almost hit the town square. Abby held onto Dean's sleeve to slow him down and face her. "Are you alright?" She looked him straight in the face and he was trying to avoid making eye contact, for he was staring at the ground and fidgeting, looking anywhere except at her. She sighed and stood her ground.

"Dean, please listen to me." He finally focused on her. "I know that was not pleasant but you have to believe me about what I have to say. Okay?" He nodded.

"Alright. I know you hate him, but Tristan can be a nice guy," and she cut off his sputter of disagreement. "when he wants to be and he just acts like an ass on purpose. He isn't really like that. And I know you're worried about them but Rory loves you and won't do anything to hurt you."

She started walking again and he followed obediently. At least she hoped Rory won't do anything to hurt him.

They reached the gazebo and sat down on the bench in the middle of it. "So, do you want to tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?" She nudged his shoulder with hers.

Dean shrugged a little. "I don't know…I can't stop thinking about Rory."

Abby deflated a little bit. "Oh. Anything specific?"

"Yeah, this morning in particular I felt as though something was off with her and me. I can't really explain it but when she woke me up with her kiss," he trailed off grasping for words.

Abby couldn't help but feel slightly good about that, horrible though it was.

"I mean, I felt nothing like I used to!" he had apparently found his words and ran with them, standing up and gesturing to Abby on the bench. "I couldn't understand it, because last night when I put her to bed after the movie, everything seemed fine and then I cover you with the blanket and since you had taken the place I was going to sleep, I settle on the floor." He paced back and forth in front of Abby, replaying his actions as if trying to figure something out. "I was asleep and then you tripped and landed on me. Thankfully you only weigh about three ounces because it didn't hurt at all but then I realized I didn't want you to move."

He stopped pacing for a moment as he came to a conclusion about something. It was as if he was thinking out loud, even if he didn't realize it. But then he started pacing again and kept talking.

"As I held you, I didn't want to let go. But as you pulled me up onto the coach and tucked me in, I knew I wanted to spend more time with you and that is why I invited you to sleep there, next to me. I knew something was off with Rory and I needed comfort but I got something more. I got what I had been craving for, even though I didn't know it."

Dean stopped moving and stood in front of Abby who was wide-eyed at his vocal proclamations. "Abby, last night when I held you against me I felt more than I have for awhile and I think I was lying to myself when I pushed away the feelings." He knelt in front of her and since he was so tall, his head was still above hers. He grasped her hands in his and stroked the back of one hand with his thumb. "Last night when I held you and this morning, when I smelled your shampoo from your damp hair…I felt more than I have with Rory for awhile, I was just too dependent and blind to see it!"

Abby's heart was thudding in her chest so loudly she was sure that he could hear it from his close proximity to her. What he was saying was everything she had been hoping he'd say.

"Abby, and when I found you doing your homework and hung out with you in your room, I didn't even realize that I was being drawn there unconsciously. I just can't help it; I need to do something that I wanted to do since last night when you stayed there with me."

Dean let go one of her hands to grasp the back of her neck and hold her as he kissed her with a passion he never felt before. Abby remained motionless for a moment until she realized what was happening and then responded immediately. She grasped his face with both hands and kissed him with such ferocity she forgot to breathe. Once oxygen was a necessity, they broke away from each other but Dean didn't wait. He immediately trailed a line of kisses down her jaw line to her ear and nibbled on the earlobe briefly. Abby was caught off guard and let out a soft moan as Dean bit down gently on the flesh. She buried her hands in his hair and pulled his face up to hers again.

As they kissed they both momentarily forgot about someone crucial they both had in common, but it didn't matter for the time being. All they knew was each other and the feelings stirring about inside them. Dean slowed the frantic pace they had been going at and leisurely played with her lips with his tongue. He licked the outsides and flicked at them until he ran his tongue along the edge of her mouth and she opened her mouth to him. Abby's tongue met his and they massaged each other.

Abby was the first to realize what was going on and that Dean was still very much attached to her sister. She drew away in one quick motion and left Dean with his eyes shut, his mouth still puckered. "Rory." She said in a sad tone.

He looked at her and sighed. He dropped his head into her lap and wrapped his arms around her hips. Abby smiled and immediately began playing with his hair and just running her fingers through it. "I know I have wanted this for awhile and have sat back and watched as Rory fell in love with you," Abby explained. "But I will not get in the way of something until it is dealt with. I _will not_ be that girl that is with someone who is already taken." She made that very clear. "So if you want this, then you need to talk to Rory."

She could feel him nod his head on her legs. "I know I have to, I just don't want to hurt her." He said, a little muffled.

Abby smiled at his kindness. She lifted his head up to look into his caring green eyes, "If you tell her the truth and just be straightforward about it, then it should be clean. If you could feel something was wonky between the both of you, then she probably has been too." She shrugged as she summed up this knowledge.

Dean nodded determinately. "Yeah, I will do that. I just need to talk to her, that's it." He seemed pleased with his resolution of the little problem and got up, holding his hand out to assist Abby. She smiled and took it graciously but didn't let go and they walked down the stairs and back out into the streets.

0000000000000000000000

**0000000000000000000000**

** Ugh, I know I've been forever but I seriously wrote more than half this chapter so long ago but I didn't want to give you such a small chapter so I waited until I had a substantial amount of material and it turned out to be longer than the last chapter. Yay! But anyway, hope you're enjoying what's happening because I cut it off a bit since I didn't want to make this chapter go on forever. Hopefully I'll get to write a bit soon but just warning you, I am going into my Junior year of college on Wednesday so let's hope. **

**Enjoy and reviewww por favor. (Ooh, kicked into my 4 years of Spanish right there. Woah.)**


End file.
